Inspired by all the little things #82 {You've been on my mind}

I'm back today sharing my card I created for the new Inspired by all the little things challenge! I had so much fun working on  this bright and cheerful spring card! 

Isn't this photo so beautiful and full of amazing inspiration? It makes me want to jump right and in and sit a spell! I decided use a new to me stamp set from Papertrey Ink. It's been around a while, and I bought it a few months ago, but this is the first time I got it inky! I just love the different possibilities with this Friendly Flowers stamp set and I can't wait to experiment with it some more!

To begin, I die cut a piece of white cardstock using the Mix and Mat: Pretty Brackets die; my favorite white cardstock is Stamper's Select White cardstock. How about you? What is your favorite? I'm actually planning on doing a comparison of white cardstocks if anyone is interested. Leave a comment and I will work on putting something together. 

After it was die cut, I ran it through my Cuttlebug again using the Hexagon Coverplate die, but I used the tan embossing mat with it so it just embossed it rather than die cut it. I ran a second piece of scrap paper through my Cuttlebug, but this time I omitted the brown mat and let it cut it as it was intended for. I wanted to create a few of the actual hexagon images using the Happy Hexagons mini stamp set to add to the card.

I took all of my color cues from the photo and stamped an assortment of hexagons. I added them to the embossed pretty bracket piece using foam squares. I was trying to achieve the look of one of the gorgeous quilts that have scalloped binding. Once I got all of the pieces arranged, I adhered it to a 4 by 5 1/4 inch piece of white cardstock that I had scored at 1/4 inch intervals lengthwise. If you look closely at the tablecloth in the photo, it has stripes just like this. I really like the extra detail it gives the card.

Once that was done, I got to work creating a bunch of different flowers. I wasn't quite sure how everything worked together since this was the first time I used this set, but I liked the combinations that I came up with. I used A LOT of foam squares putting this card together~ LOL! I thought button centers would be super sweet for this design, so I added three little white ones to the center of each flower. The sentiment is heat embossed in white onto a strip of Smokey Shadow cardstock. I liked how the black and white placecard photo looked, so I wanted to add some dark and light contrast as well. I added a few sparkling clear sequins and then added the entire focal panel to an A2 Spring Moss cardbase. I hope you'll join us for this challenge! Thanks for fluttering by!

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Inspired by all the little things #81 {more than you'll ever know}

I'm so excited to be guest designing over at Inspired by all the little Things this month! I had so much fun back in October so I was thrilled when Lesley asked me to be her guest this month! I also have some other super exciting news! I'm joining the Reverse Confetti design team! I'm so honored! Jen has been such an amazing friend! It was such fun being part of her SFYTT team back in the day! Sneak peeks of the new release will begin Monday, so stay tuned!  Ok....on to the challenge!

Isn't this inspiration photo wonderful! I just love it! I took a very literal approach when designing my card, because I knew how fun it would be to recreate the look and feel! All of the stamps that I used are from Papertrey Ink. I knew that the Meadow Greens stamp set would be absolutely PERFECT for today's card!

To begin, I sponged some "Peacock Feathers" Distress Ink onto a 4 by 5 1/4 inch piece of smooth Bristol paper. I kept it heavier in the corners and blended it out towards the center. I was hoping to achieve the softness of the glass bottles in the photo. I also pressed the ink pad onto a sheet of acetate and then added some water with a paint brush and splattered it over the top. I just love adding this detail to cards like this. 

Once the background was done, I got to work on the flowers and greenery. I knew that it would be difficult to stamp white flowers on white cardstock. I found that by embossing the image using Wow Puff Powder it gave me just the look I was trying to achieve! Yay! Once that was done, I stamped the stem image over the top. The leaves were stamped in a variety of different green inks for some nice contrast and variation. Some of the inks I used are: Simply Chartreuse, Green Parakeet, SU!'s Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss. I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out.

I wanted to recreate the look of the bottle labels. I stamped the sentiment onto Kraft cardstock and then I used a little scroll stamp from the Vintage Labels stamp set that has been retired. I sponged the edges for the worn look on the bottles. I also added a piece of vellum that had been die cut using the Mix and Mat: pretty brackets die . It gave it just a hint of the glassy feel of the bottles. I added a few seashells from my stash to the bottom using glue dots. I also added a few sparkling clear sequins. I had so much fun making this card and I hope you'll join us for this challenge!

Simply Sweet Blog Hop Giveaway winner AND Celebrate the magic of Christmas

Happy Sunday, Friends! December is finally here! I have spent the past week decorating and cleaning my house getting ready for the two parties I hosted yesterday! Both were fun, but I am exhausted and I have missed my papercrafing time. I thought today would be a good opportunity to share a card I made a few weeks ago for the "inspired by the little things" challenge, but never got it uploaded in time! But, before I tell you about the card, we have a WINNER for the Simply Sweet Christmas Inspiration Blog Hop! My cute daughter wanted to pick the winner and that is....JILL NORWOOD!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Email me your address at kellyrory1@msn.com and I'll get your goodies to you ASAP!! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments and Christmas traditions! I appreciate ALL of the comments that you left for me! Thank you!!! You know how to make a girl feel loved!

As I mentioned earlier, this card was originally made for THIS challenge, but I didn't get it photographed or uploaded in time! Oh well! I didn't think I would even share it, but since I haven't been papercrafting this week, I thought I may as well share it!

I created a beautiful glittery background for the card and I have a photo tutorial of my process. I have made a similar background for THIS card back in the summer! I just love the result!

To begin, I taped my watercolor paper and the Marilyn Stencil to a matboard using washi tape. I cut my watercolor paper slightly larger than I wanted since I knew I would be trimming it down. 

I applied the Embossing Paste in an even coat, smoothing out the lines (which are still visible in this picure)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Remove the stencil carefully and wash it immediately as well as your application tools.

Poor the embossing powder over the entire surface. Shake off the excess powder and then heat set.

The embossing paste will bubble as it is heated but the result is beautiful! I thought it made a perfect backdrop for my card!

The tree is die cut and embossed in the same powder and the ornaments are embossed in silver onto vellum cardstock for more stability, but a little bit of sheerness. The Christmas tree stand is embossed in silver as well onto a piece of gray cardstock. I used the Tree Trimming Trio stamp set.

A few sequins finish it off as well as a vellum sentiment strip! Thanks for fluttering by and thank you for all of your sweet comments!

Inspired by All the little Things #70 {Blessed}

I am completely honored to be the Guest Designer over at Inpired by all the little things this week! It is one of my favorite challenges and totally represents me as a designer...I'm always inspired by all of the little things in life! I was blown away by the gorgeous inspiration photo and couldn't wait to get started! Autumn has nearly taken us to November -the season of Thanks-so I decided to create a couple of Thanksgiving cards to mail out next month!

Before I get started on the details of the card, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of my now 4 year old! When I saw the inspiration photo, it totally reminded me of this photo shoot I did with him when he was about a month old! Ok...now on to the card!

To begin, I sponged Peacock Feathers distress ink onto a 4 by 5 1/4 inch panel of Bristol paper and blended it, concentrating on the center for a more saturated look, and worked my way out to the edges. I love that gorgeous turquoise blue represented in the photo. I had just ordered the Mix and Mat; PInked Edge Die and knew it would be perfect for today's card.

I die cut the entire piece from my favorite Kraft cardstock and then used Copic markers to color in the leaves. I love using color on Kraft cardstock...it creates new tones that are just lovely! Each leaf was brushed with some Wink of Stella for some shine. I adhered the leaf panel onto the sponged card front using foam squares. After that was done, I added a few Bright Gold Nuvo Drops here and there between the leaves for some added interest. I really liked how the bubbles in the cocoa on the inspiration photo looked, so I added them in my own way.

The sentiment is die cut twice out of "Gilver" glitter paper using the Inspired: Blessed die cut and then glued on top of each other. The other portion of both sentiments (I made two different cards) is heat embossed using gold powder onto a strip of mustard cardstock using the Inspired:Blessed Mini Stamp Set. It is such a perfect little set for so many occasions, but especially around this time of year.

The "Blessed" portion is glued into place using Tombow Mono Liquid Glue directly onto the mustard sentiment strip. The sentiment strip is added to the top of the leaf portion using foam squares for added dimension. The entire focal panel is adhered to a mustard A2 card base for some added definition. I hope you get a chance to play along this week! With such a beautiful photo, it's hard not to! Thanks for fluttering by!

My cup runneth over...{thank you}

I happened upon the "Inspired by all the little things" challenge on Instagram the other day and was...inspired! Isn't this photo beautiful? I would love to be a guest at this event, whatever it may be! I love the color combo and the rows of teacups caught my eye immediately...such a small detail, but I knew EXACTLY what direction I wanted to head in! You can check out the challenge HERE. 

 

I took hints of the inspiration photo as my guide. I began by sponging green ink onto 40 lb. watercolor paper and then spritzing it with water. I applied the ink a little heavier in the areas where I knew that I would be placing the teacups. I wanted there to be a nice contrast between the cups and the background. I taped the watercolor paper down with washi tape, leaving the slightest white edge for contrast and to keep it from curling.

While that was drying, I die cut all 6 of my teacups out of the same watercolor paper. I knew that I would be watercoloring at least 3 of them, but just did them all just in case. I used "Tea for Two additions" from PTI, an oldie but goodie, for today's design. I heat embossed 3 of the cups using the line art image and 3 using the solid images included in the set. The line art cups were watercolored using a watercolor pen and "Apricot Appeal" ink.

The embossing gives it the perfect amount of delicate shine that I was hoping for. After the watercolor background piece was dry, I measured the height of the teacups and used my paper trimmer and scoring blade to make 2 indentations for some extra detail, beneath each row of cups as well as creating a "sandwich" for the sentiment panel as well. The sentiment was heat embossed as well and I just love the impact it gives the card. The roses were diecut from "Apricot Appeal" cardstock and then brushed with gold ink for some extra detail and continuity.

The background of the inspiration piece boasted a backdrop of lights, which I love. I decided to add a hint of sparkle by adding a few gold sequins here and there.

The spoon and tea tag were some extra finishing touches that made the card feel complete and balanced. The focal piece was layered onto "Apricot Appeal" cardstock and a Kraft card base sponged with white ink. This card was so much fun to create! I was actually inspired twice for this particular design. I was standing in line at the post office to mail out THESE AND THIS card and I saw a card available for purchase there that struck my fancy; not the colors, not much really, but it had teacups on it. As soon as I saw this photo, it was the teacups that caught my eye as well...and that is how an "inspired" card was born! Thanks for fluttering by!